When you encounter any kind of problem, do you focus on the problem or do you focus on finding a possible solution? This isn’t the type of question I ask myself every day, but a couple of days ago I was reminded of a phrase that I used to use on my kids when they would come to me asking for help with a situation. Inevitably this would be the type of question that they had a far better chance of getting an answer to than I ever would. After...

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the phrase “coming out of the closet”? If you’re like most people, my guess would be that you’re thinking that someone has decided to tell the world that they are gay. I must confess that that would probably have been my first thought as well. Over the past year or so, I’ve started to think of the phrase more along the lines of anything that a person is hiding about themselves....

It was Martin Luther King Day in the U.S. on Monday and every time I hear his name I “hear” his famous speech in my head. I would guess that almost anyone old enough to remember him, and even younger folks that have seen part or all of the speech on video, will remember the four words from his speech. “I HAVE A DREAM.” He issued those words several times during the speech, and while we may not remember the full speech we remember the...

How do you plan a victory party? A little over a year ago there was a municipal election in our city. I heard a few people walking around saying they really wanted change in the position of Mayor. Others were saying that they thought the existing mayor was doing a good job and hoped he would get back in. I took my stance as well. Then someone asked me if I was going to sit back and let things happen or if I was going to stand up for my beliefs...

In my last blog I asked the question “Do you have a voice”? In this one I ask a related question “How BIG is your voice?” Have you ever had a situation where you’ve heard someone say something, or maybe you read something in a book, a newspaper, a blog, or an inspirational quote, and it inspired you to take action? Even if you didn’t take action, you probably thought about it for a moment or two. Maybe what you read or heard was so...